All I Want For Christmas
by smilelikey0umeanit
Summary: Strickland has organised a Christmas meal for the team at the Savoy but there's one problem- Sandra has forgotten to buy him a present. A joint fic by BethyBoo97, Geezworld234 and myself. Nothing shippy, just a bit of Christmas fun. Disclaimer- we don't own any of the characters.
1. Chapter 1

All I Want For Christmas

Sandra Pullman sighed as she came face to face with the glittering dew drops that had frozen to the trees. She adored London in the winter, so long as she was snuggled on the sofa watching a black and white film. Like most people, she loathed being blinded by the dazzling sun as it danced about across the road, making the Monday morning commute into work even more frustrating than usual. This morning had been particularly stressful- it was the final Monday before Christmas, and the streets were filled with people searching for last-minute gifts for their loved ones.

As usual, she'd been organised, purchasing presents for the boys, Esther and her mother before the real rush began in mid-November. She only hoped they would like them. The traffic in front of her seemed to have completely stopped, leaving her stuck with her own thoughts and Christmas music on the radio, for company. She turned up the heating in the car and pulled her scarf a little closer as the chill seemed to penetrate the car door now that she was completely stationary. When she'd left the house, the boys gifts all wrapped up in the boot, she was sure it was going to be a good day, now she wasn't so sure.

The UCOS team were notorious for being 'anti Christmas' around the Met. Never going to any of the festive parties thrown by the various departments, their celebrations were usually a low key affair, having a meal and exchanging presents during the last working Monday but this year Strickland had announced he was taking them to the Savoy for a Christmas dinner and the head waiter (a close personal friend of Robert) would hand around the secret Santa gifts- that's when it hit her, she had forgotten to get her boss' secret present. She sighed wearily, running her hand through her hair as she glanced outside disdainfully at the frenzy of Christmas shoppers.

As much as she loved shopping under normal circumstances, she couldn't bring herself to go, not today. And what the hell was she meant to get him? She'd known the man ten years and still knew very little about him, she was sure that he'd be the type who'd have everything they could ever possibly need. As the traffic in front of her finally began to move, she was brought back from her present related thoughts. She now faced the issue of whether to turn and go shopping and hope that an idea would hit her or go out after she'd gotten to work and find somewhere that was likely to be quieter, the later she left it now though the busier the shops would be.

She decided she had better bite the bullet, she sent Gerry a text message explaining the flaw in attempting to be overly organised and asked him to cover for her. After he replied, mocking her stupidity, she sent back an abrupt text as a joke and searched for a car park that wasn't full- she had better have enough change on her. She pulled into the closest space she could find to the small shopping centre's entrance and turned off the engine in her silver Audi. Stepping out into the cool air, she pulled her long black coat tightly around her body, keeping the icily cold wind at bay.

As soon as she got inside, she paused. She was normally quite good at buying presents, but when it came to her boss, she really didn't have the faintest idea. For a bit she just wandered round, trying to find something that seemed appropriate. Toddlers screamed in protest at the amount of time that they were spending in a shop and more specifically stuck in the trolley. Sandra was getting more and more stressed, the noise meant that her head was now pounding and everything she saw was something that would be perfect for people she'd already bought presents. Instead her shopping basket now housed chocolate and a drink for herself for when she got out of the shop as a reward.

Once she bought her items she retreated back the entrance and start again. She had to bite her tongue as she got pushed along the concourse. The noise of screaming children had regenerated to the over the top shrieks of teenage girls, she looked across to the perfume shop and saw a long queue of people waiting impatiently as the D-list celebrity arrived to sign boxes of his new fragrance for women. _For heaven's sake._ She was tempted to just return to the office and send Gerry out to get something instead. He was a man, he would know what to buy, right? She snorted ironically at the idea. Gerry and the DAC were as different as chalk and cheese, in fact being a man was probably the only thing they had in common. She spotted a quiet corner and headed to it, weaving through the crowd of over-excited teenagers. _Right, Sandra, think. _

She looked around and noticed that she was now stood in the toiletries section. It was a section of the massive store that seemed to have been abandoned in the Christmas shop rush. It was then that something in just in view caught her eye, something that was the perfect gift for her boss. As she gazed upon the novelty hand creams she remembered that Rob was a golfer, those pointless conversations he had with Jack about handicaps had finally paid off. She reached up and took a tube from the back and studied it carefully, it claimed that this 'special' cream would act as a layer of warmth between your ungloved hand and the club, it had that magic phrase 'scientifically proven' at the bottom which made Sandra laugh. It wasn't enough but it's a start, she thought.

She kept hold of the small green tube and began to explore more of the brightly decorated shop, the endless loop of Christmas tunes continuing to emanate from the speakers above. Suddenly she recalled the time when Strickland had asked Gerry to join his charity band. Gerry had been less than enthusiastic in comparison to the rest of the group, but that meant her boss must have a musical streak. Navigating down an aisle full of novelty gifts and trinkets, a keyring with a metallic guitar plectrum on it caught her eye. Again, it was a small gift, but she liked the idea behind it. With two smaller and thoughtful gifts now in her basket she decided to bulk it up with a bottle of something fancy. She managed to locate her way to the alcohol aisle and stared at the pretty bare looking shelves. She browsed the few remaining bottles but found only alcopops and various cocktails, neither of which were appropriate.

She sent Gerry a text praying that he would reply quickly, she asked him to see if his alcohol merchant would be able to get her something special and festive. Meandering back up the aisles in direction of the checkout she stopped abruptly, facing her was a range of novelty costumes to dress up your bottles of alcohol, there was a rock star one and a police man one, complete with a hat and truncheon. She chuckled, picking up the policeman costume to better inspect it. Her phone lit up in her hand and she smiled gratefully as she read the text from Gerry, confirming that he would be able to find to find something, if she paid him a bit extra of course. There was always a catch when it came to Gerry. But that meant the little police costume for the bottle would perfect. She headed to the tills, feeling much more relaxed about the crowds of hurried people in the store now that she had found the ideal presents for her boss.

The clock in her car told her that it was now pushing half ten as she finally managed to get out of the car park. With all the nutters seeming to be on the road in that car park, she'd briefly debated turning her police lights on in an attempt to get out quicker, but in the end it hadn't been necessary. The roads were a lot clearer than they had been only an hour and a bit before, it wouldn't be for long though as she noticed glittery powder falling on to her windscreen.

At first the powdery offering was feeble but it quickly transformed into a rapid formation, spiralling at her like an other worldly vortex. Luckily, she hadn't far to go before she finally reached work but she was more worried about the fact that if the stuff settled she wouldn't be able to go home and change into her fancy frock which she had forked out for especially for tonight's dinner. Still, she would be partly glad if it did. The memories of last time they had shared a dinner with their boss still made her blush in sheer humiliation. At least they didn't have to worry about the Hansons now though, that was all she really wanted for Christmas. Her boys to be happy.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi boys." Sandra greeted as she walked into the basement where UCOS were stationed.

"Is it snowing?" Gerry asked childishly as he noticed the white dots covering his boss.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you on my team, your top notch detective skills." Sandra replied sarcastically.

"So what I have I missed dug up any dirt on Peter Venetti?" She asked brushing the melting lumps of snow off her shoulders.

"We haven't got him to crack as of yet, Jack is still in the interview room with him now, if you want to take a look, but first tell Brian he has to wear a tux tonight."

Brian looked at Sandra in desperation, his big puppy dog eyes silently pleaded with her to say 'no tracksuits and trainers are totally acceptable at London's most prestigious hotel.'

She sighed. "Come on Brian, this is the Savoy we're talking about. Surely just a few hours in a suit wouldn't kill you? For us?"

He returned his eyes to his laptop screen sulkily. "I'll think about it."

"You don't have to think about it, I'm telling you. You're wearing a tux Brian, whether you like it or not." she replied, taking a harder approach as she considered the embarrassment that would arise from Brian's usual attire. He looked back down at his laptop, having chosen not to say anymore but sulk instead.

"Have you got a bottle of something sorted?" Sandra asked as she walked through to her own office to take her coat off and drop her bag down.

"Yeah, Pete will bring it over as soon as he can." Gerry assured her before taking the £20 note that Sandra was holding out.

"Have you got everything sorted for the present giving later?" Sandra asked the most forgetful member of the team.

"Yes, your worry offends me." Gerry feigned hurt.

"Well I'll remain worried until I know that the contents of your gifts are sensible."

"Sandra, if this present exchange was in the office, then yes we probably would have all chosen joke presents but it is not and none of us want to be embarrassed," Gerry said flashing a cheeky smile.

"Yes but it's the fact the presents are anonymous that gives me cause for concern. I better go see how Jack is getting along; I imagine you two haven't been much help."

"Gerry, maybe but I have," Brian called on the defence as Sandra left the office.

* * *

><p>Evening fell over London and not long after, the team arrived at the Savoy in all their finery. Even Brian had managed to scrub up well in his tuxedo. Thankfully the snow had stopped earlier in the day, allowing them all to arrive early, presents in tow. Now they were just waiting for Strickland.<br>"Nice place, this," Gerry commented between sips of his pint as they waited in the warm, finely decorated foyer.

"I'm sure the food will be even nicer." Brian mumbled knowing that eating was dependent on Strickland's arrival.

"Please don't be fussy Brian." Sandra pleaded, speaking to him like a mother would do when taking her child to a posh restaurant. "I'm sure there'll be something that you'll eat so no moaning."

"Who's paying for all of this?" Jack suddenly asked.

"Yeah, is this coming out of our department budget?" Gerry piped up.

Sandra flashed a smile, knowing that her revelation would shock her boys. "No, Strickland is paying for it out of his own pocket."

At that Gerry about choked on his drink "Well what are we waiting for, we better order the most expensive bottle of champers for us and all the non-alcoholic cocktails on the list for Brian," Gerry said, suddenly feeling very chirpy about tonight's main event. Brian and Jack rubbed their hands with glee and agreed with Gerry's statement.

As Gerry put his hand up to signal the waiter, Sandra pushed it down and hissed "Don't show us up!"

"I'm not, I'm just doing what any normal person would do," Gerry smirked in self-defence. "He's being generous for once, we might as well take advantage,"

"Shut up, he's here," the blonde elbowed Gerry in the ribs as she smiled and waved falsely at their boss who was also dressed in a tuxedo, although he looked much more comfortable in it than Brian did.

"Evening all," he greeted them as he joined their group. "You all look great, shall we get the table?"

"About bloody time, I'm starving," muttered Brian, receiving a glare from Sandra.


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour later and the group had tucked into their main meal. The drinks were flowing, as was the conversation, much to Sandra's surprise. She was actually rather enjoying herself.

"So I bet you're all waiting for the present part of the evening?" Strickland brought it up as they waited for their main courses.

"Of course not, we're just enjoying ourselves." Sandra spoke politely before sighing as she saw all three of her boys nodding.

"It's okay Sandra, you know what boys are like with the prospect of new toys." Strickland laughed as a round of new drinks were placed in front of them. "Thank you."

Strickland, who had asked the group to hand their presents to a senior member of staff named Michael on arrival, whispered into Michael's ear.

"Very good, sir" he said nodding; his voice reminded Brian of a young Noel Coward.

"So while we wait for our presents, we have just enough time to tell everyone about our Christmas plans," Robert said, topping up Sandra's glass with the best white wine she had ever tasted. "Jack, how will you be spending Christmas Day?"

"Probably just a quiet one by myself, I don't mind to be honest. It's not the same without Mary," he responded quietly. "How about you, sir?"

"Jack, call me Robert, please," the younger man insisted. "I'll probably be spending it by myself too, the children are in Italy with their mother."

A silence descended around the table. Sandra would spending the day with her mother, but by the end of it she usually came to wish she had spent it alone.

"I have all the girls coming over in the afternoon for dinner but I'm spending the morning with Paula and Gerry." Gerry said, picking up on the tone the conversation had taken and set about trying to fix it.

"I'm spending the afternoon with my mum and a large bottle of wine." Sandra laughed, again trying to lighten the mood.

"Esther and I have Mark, his wife and bump coming over on Christmas Eve and they're staying over."

"That'll be nice." Sandra spoke, smiling as she did knowing that relations were improving between Brian and his son.

"Did someone ask for presents? Just call me Santa." Michael spoke cheerily as he appeared back at the table.

Each person sitting at the table exclaimed with glee, Christmas really did bring out the child in them all.

"For the very beautiful lady" Michael said extracting a small but stunningly wrapped package to Sandra, it felt light and delicate, can't be from Gerry she thought.

Once they all had hold of their gifts they took it in turn to say who they thought it was from before it was opened and what they thought it might be.

Keeping to the age old tradition of ladies first, Sandra took a guess at her secret Santa. "Erm...Jack, is this from you?"

He shrugged, shaking his head. "Nope, open it and then take another guess."

She gently removed the small gold bow and began to peel open the red wrapping paper, revealing a box inside. Frowning in confusion, she opened the box. Inside was a beautiful silver necklace with a small pendant, the diamond set inside it sparkling in the light.

"This must have cost a fortune," she gasped in surprise. "Who bought me it?"

"You can't ask that Sandra! It's a secret, hence the name secret Santa." Brian pointed out. She looked around the table trying to figure out who sent it but each man kept a poker face on. Brian would have never picked it, even with Esther's help it would have still been something. If it'd been Jack then he'd have given her a bigger hint, that left her with just Robert and Gerry to choose from.

"I love it." Sandra spoke, a massive smile plastered across her face as she promised herself she'd pay special attention to the remainder of the gifts to try and figure out who her gift was from.

After the only lady of the table had opened her present, it was Jack's turn. After guessing at his present, he gingerly he made a slit in the paper with his finger and took out its contents. There was a hardback book on the 21st century, which had become a running joke with the team that he wasn't up to speed with present day life. The other item was a solid silver hipflask with his name engraved down one side.

"Thank you, I love it," he smiled. "And I think this will be useful in finally bringing me up to date with modern life but you all know the 20th Century was better."

"Just don't be drinking too much whiskey at work," Sandra joked. "And UCOS didn't exist in the 20th Century so it can't be better!"

"Here here," Brian added sincerely.

"Too right guv," Gerry grinned. "I propose a toast, to UCOS."

"To UCOS," they chorused, holding up their drinks.

"Right Brian, your turn," Brian was handed what was the largest present out of the group. Opening it he found a new bike helmet that read 'Boy Racer' along the back, which set everyone in to peals of laughter and a new coat hanger with his name inscribed on it, as his old one had broken.

The Northerner beamed with pride. His whole life it had seemed everyone, apart from Esther, nobody seemed to understand him, and now here he was with four of the best people in the world. "Wow you really do know your onions when it comes to me, thank you so much, these are great," he cried with happiness as the rest of the team looked on fondly.

"Right, looks like my turn then," Gerry clapped his hands with glee before retrieving his gift, a neatly wrapped large box. Carefully he removed the paper and opened the box to reveal a hand painted model of a Triumph Stag, a perfect replica of his beloved classic car.

"Ey this is brilliant!" He exclaimed, lifting it up to examine it more closely, taking in all the small details. "Thank you, I love it."

"On to the final present

." Sandra smiled as she watched Rob pick up the only remaining present. It was in a gift bag with two individually wrapped gifts inside. The first was clearly a bottle but the second was a more odd shape. Opening it he couldn't help but smile at the gifts but more so at how well the team seemed to know him.

"Guys this is brilliant" he chuckled as admired the very fine bottle of 15-year-old malt; it was odd that such a slick bottle was decorated in something so tacky but it was a very personal gift and Rob secretly was a lover of anything tacky.

"I guess you will all be wanting to come back to mine for a nightcap, now" he said securing the bottle back into the gift bag it came in.

"Sir, you aren't honestly going to open that are you, it will be vintage one day" Gerry replied.

"We all will be one day Gerry, you lot should know" he joked. "And how many times, please call me Robert."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: The end! Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this, we're glad you enjoyed it :) xxx_**


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